11 (A)Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may (B)walk in your truth;
    (C)unite my heart to fear your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
13 (D)For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have (E)delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

14 O God, insolent men have (F)risen up against me;
    a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
    and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God (G)merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 (H)Turn to me and be gracious to me;
    give your strength to (I)your servant,
    and save (J)the son of your maidservant.
17 (K)Show me a sign of your (L)favor,
    that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
    because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

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Sarai and Hagar

16 (A)Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was (B)Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children[a] by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram (C)had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, (D)she looked with contempt on her mistress.[b] And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May (E)the Lord judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to (F)Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, (G)“I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant
    and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,[c]
    (H)because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be (I)a wild donkey of a man,
    his hand against everyone
    and everyone's hand against him,
and he shall dwell (J)over against all his kinsmen.”

13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,”[d] for she said, (K)“Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”[e] 14 Therefore the well was called (L)Beer-lahai-roi;[f] it lies between (M)Kadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 16:2 Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children
  2. Genesis 16:4 Hebrew her mistress was dishonorable in her eyes; similarly in verse 5
  3. Genesis 16:11 Ishmael means God hears
  4. Genesis 16:13 Or You are a God who sees me
  5. Genesis 16:13 Hebrew Have I really seen him here who sees me? or Would I have looked here for the one who sees me?
  6. Genesis 16:14 Beer-lahai-roi means the well of the Living One who sees me

To the Church in Ephesus

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of (A)him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, (B)who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

(C)“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but (D)have tested those (E)who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up (F)for my name's sake, and you (G)have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned (H)the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do (I)the works you did at first. If not, (J)I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of (K)the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (L)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (M)To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of (N)the tree of life, which is in (O)the paradise of God.’

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